Glitched
by amberdragonling
Summary: Tails makes a device that can give Sonic unlimited power, but when something goes terribly wrong and Sonic gets transported to another world in his dreams, what will the Sonic gang do? Does Sonic even want to come back? Will he stay in a coma, or will he risk destroying that world to come back? Implied Sonic x Shadow, Eggman x Tails and Rouge x OC. UPDATES EVERY FRIDAY
1. New Energy

It was a humid day, too hot to do much of anything actually. Sonic found himself thanking whatever gods were out there that air conditioning existed. It was a beautiful, beautiful thing. He let out prolonged sigh, and opened his eyes at the sound of some obnoxious ticking noises.

Tails was doing his usual thing, working on stuff. He didn't know what it was that the fox was working on, but he had learned not to ask. Asking meant lectures and lectures meant feeling stupid. So the bright blue hedgehog kept his trap shut. Besides, it was nap time anyway.

Just as he was hitting that perfect nirvana of sleep, he was jolted into reality when he heard Tails shriek. Sonic jumped to his feet immediately and looked around, before smirking and relaxing a bit when he was that the fox was just excited.

"I did it Sonic! I found a way to fuse Chaos energy!" He exclaimed, holding up a faintly glowing disk as if it were Simba.

"So…. what? You have a superdisk, good work kiddo."

He scowled at the hedgehog and placed beckoned for him to follow. They left the living room and headed to the basement, where Tails conducted his most… interesting of experiments. He gestured to a tall cylinder type gizmo. It was attached to the wall and inside was full of wires with suction cups on the ends. "With this," he started "I can permanently infuse chaos energy into any living being."

He popped the disk into a computer near it and started to play with some settings before the face of the cylinder swung open.

"Theoretically, this machine could make anyone a living chaos emerald! You would be able to run faster than you could even imagine."

Sonic's interest perked at that. He walked over to the machine, tuning out the fox as he continued to speak. His emerald eyes studied it, before he hopped into it and started to try and get the wires on him. "I'm down for that! Speed is my middle name after all!"

The fox rolled his eyes and and walked over to it, looking at Sonic in concern. "This is new, and it could have some serious side effects like-"

"Blah blah blah, lets get this baby going!"

Knowing he couldn't reason with the hedgehog when he got excited about something, he just nodded and shut the cylinder. The machine started to tick and the wires suddenly came to life, attaching themselves to the blue male. Sonic flinched a little, but since Tails wasn't concerned he figured that it was supposed to work like that.

Tails walked over to the computer and started to click away on it before he pulled something into the air from the screen and slid it with his hand until it was in front of the tube. He tapped some things on the floating window before it disappeared and the fox grabbed some goggles.

****"It is going to hurt a bit, so get ready."


	2. Optimum Control

The city was always bustling at this hour, people and mobians alike all rushing to get home from their day jobs. Those of them who had day jobs, or regular jobs in general actually.

Team Dark was not one of those 'day job' folk, most of their work was on commission either by GUN or other third parties that had enough change in their back pockets. They never said they were always clean cops, just mostly.

Shadow, Rouge and E123 Omega all shared a surprisingly small house, right off of Station Square, the train stop before the Mystic Ruins actually. While the house was small, it did have a homey feel, the walls were a cream color, the hardwood floors, while scratched, were a deep burgundy. Pictures of the trio as well as a few other friends were sprinkled down the hall that lead to their rooms, each having their own.

Shadow had a simple room, not different than the rest of the house. In fact, other than the blue bed, it only had a dresser and a closet, both of which were fairly empty aside from the odd suit or two his female companion forced him to get for meetings and parties.

He gave up resisting after about a month.

Rouge, the suit-forcing companion, had a purple room. Her bed was circular and was just below a red bar that went right through her room. While she did have covers and pillows on her bed, she very rarely slept lying down; being a bat and all. But it was a habit she was a bit embarrassed of, so she guarded it well, passing it off as an easy place to store clothes or hang things.

Then the robot, Omega. Omega lived in a room not different than Shadow's, only difference was that there was nothing in it aside from a couple of mechanics that he kept around to keep himself running. Robots didnt sleep after all.

"Omega, how can you even control the game? Your hands are bigger than me!" A womanly voice exclaimed. Rouge rested her cheek on her balled up fist, leaning against the arm of the black couch.

**"I have optimum control."** The metal mass quipped back, hunched over on the same couch, expertly holding a controller and using it quite well despite his large hands.

The third of the party was on the other side, nearly sitting on the arm of the couch since Omega was too scared to take up any bit of Rouge's cushion. Which frankly the pessimistic hedgehog couldn't blame him for, the bat could be quite terrifying when she was on her crotch bleed.

Most women were actually.

Shadow scowled at the game, unsure what the point of being a red hatted plumber trying to save some sort of princess in a different castle. His scowling was interrupted when he could feel Rouge looking at him, a curious expression on her face.

"What?"

"Are you gay or straight? I can't figure you out."

The black hedgehog nearly choked, leaning back to stare at her with raised eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"Are you gay or what?"

Shadow wasn't sure how to answer this, he frowned and looked ahead for a while. He never really thought about his sexuality, he was too busy. Did he even have a sexuality? He was an andriod, something created by a human… Did Ivo even program him with sexual desires? He loved Maria, but it wasn't sexual. He loves Rouge and Omega both, but it isn't sexual either.

"I am... unsure… I don't know if I was even made with a sexuality."

There was silence for a while, before it was the robot between them who spoke up, having gotten a game over. **"I enjoy the look of other robots. Would this qualify me as gay?"**

"No, you can be… robosexual." Rouge said with a laugh, seeming have taken Shadow's answer and decided it was good enough for now. Though she was curious, especially with the extended amount of time he had been spending with Sonic. The two were almost inseparable on some days… But that would be something the bat decided she would leave to Shadow. He would figure out what feelings he had for Sonic one day; if he even had any. She already knew Sonic swung both ways.

She couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Sonic and her emo companion getting together, now that would be the couple of the century.

* * *

_Hi everyone! Amber here, please enjoy your friday update! _


	3. Bubbly Skin

Sonic had dealt with pain before, it wasn't anything of an issue really anymore. He flinched slightly as he felt needles dig themselves past his thin fur and into his skin, but the pain resided rather fast. In fact, the pain was gone completely by the time the slowly rising green liquid went over his head. He dimly noted that there was a faint glow to it.

Why wasn't he panicking? He hated water, or any liquid in general. And yet here was he was, totally calm with it over his head. How could he breathe? His eyes closed as he heard Tails's voice surprisingly clear through the green water.

"There is a bit of an aphrodisiac in there to help keep you calm, any irregular heart beats could cause some issues." The fox explained, mouth stretched upwards from ear to ear.

He couldn't believe this was working! He bounded over to the computer and started to type stuff away once more, before he returned to the cylinder Sonic was floating in.

"Ok, so I'm going to inject you with the chaos power now. I… I don't know if it will hurt, so tell me to stop if it does."

Tails hesitated, what if this doesn't work? Would it kill Sonic? Ears swiveling back, he gulped and walked to the computer, adjusting his goggles before grabbing a lever. This had to work, every calculation was right. The numbers all lined up, and numbers never lied. With one last look at his blue friend, he pulled the lever.

Inside of the cylinder Sonic's eyes shot open, it felt like he was being injected with lava! His entire body tensed, gritting his teeth. His blood boiled, literally, as his skin began to bulge and bubble from the amount of energy being forced inside. He could control chaos energy, but he didn't realize just how much power was untapped in a chaos emerald!

Even when he was Super Sonic, the amount of raw energy being forced inside of him was insane, Super Sonic was nothing! He could feel parts of his skin tearing from the bubbles, causing some blood to leak out of his body.

Sonic could handle pain but not like this.

He cried out, and Tails immediately tried to pull the lever to shut it off. But he couldn't! It was jammed, the fox frantically ran to the computer to try and shut it down that way, trying to block out the blood curdling screams of his best friend. He should have never done this! He typed on the computer. His fingers smashed against the keys, trying to override the system, but before he could everything went black.

The fox started to panic, the amount of energy was too much! It sucked out all of the power of his system. He sprinted up to the glass, seeing with horrified eyes; Sonic writhing in pain, he seemed to have lost his ability to scream.

This was only one thing he could do, it was dangerous, but it was his only chance. He needed to get Sonic out of there, now. Tails ran to the left side of the pod, grabbing a heavy screwdriver and started bashing the front of it. The tool only bounced off, the glass was too thick.

He ran to the other side of the room, and started to fight with the lever to switch the machine off, even though it was good and jammed. His eyes started to well up with tears, Sonic was going to die and it was all because of him!

His breaths started to come in short pants, and in a final push of desperation, he managed to push the lever back, shutting off the system and swinging the door open. As soon as it opened, the hedgehog spilled out of the cylinder with the liquid, pooling on the ground limply.

Wasting no time, Tails ran over to the hedgehog, the water works already making its way down his face.

"Sonic! Sonic, are you okay!? I am so sorry! I should have known better than to do this! It was stupid!" He sobbed, gathering his blue pal's limp body in his thin yellow arms. His eyes scanned the hedgehog, he wasn't moving.

_He wasn't breathing._

The fox dragged his body up the stairs, moving as fast as he could with the dead weight. No, not dead. Sonic wasn't dead yet!

He flew him up onto a white table in his workshop, and pushed everything else off. Tails ran to the emergency kit and grabbed a face-mask, and placed it over the hedgehog's nose and mouth, before taking a cord and hooking it up to an oxygen tank. He attached a pump and set the pump to run, stimulating CPR with direct oxygen.

The fox ran to the side of the table and started to pump Sonic's chest, trying to get him to breathe. Sonic needed to breathe, he was not ready to die. Tails couldn't lose the guy who raised him! He was like his father, and his only family!

If Sonic died…

Tails would be _all alone_.


	4. Tears and Hope

"Woah there tiger! Calm down, sweetie Take a deep breath and tell Rouge what happened."

The white bat, wearing a simple lavender night gown, was off in the corner of the kitchen. Her body slumped against the peach counter for support as she listened to Tails over the phone. When he had called her, it was about midnight and the bat was getting ready to settle into her room for the night.

Though whatever is going on now is obviously more important. Her brow scrunched down in a frown, listening as Tails explained his new machine and what happened.

"Alright… Yes, I know… It's okay, he'll be just fine. We'll be there soon." Rouge straightened and ended the call, turning back to face the half asleep raven hedgehog and robot.

"There was an accident at Tails's lab, he discovered a way to turn living beings into chaos emeralds, so-to-speak… And we all know who was first in line to try it."

Shadow blinked, seeming to have woken up a bit at this news. He frowned, crossing his arms in his usual pessimistic fashion, though Rouge could tell he was genuinely concerned about Sonic's health.

Rouge sighed, and patted his shoulder. "Don't expect much Shad… The kid was sobbing," Her green-blue eyes drifted to meet his lava ones. They were filled with anger, concern and even a bit of terror at the possible news of losing his blue rival.

"Even if… The worse case scenario has happened, don't take it out on him. Sonic raised him, don't forget that."

With that the trio got ready and headed out to the Mystic Ruins where Tails's lab was. It didn't take long, and when they got there they were greeted by the small two tailed child, eyes still red from crying.

Rouge sighed and gave him a gentle rub on the head as he led them inside to his garage, where Sonic was laying on a white table. There was a facemask next to him and his arms were wrapped with gauze, but frankly it just looked like Sonic was sleeping.

Though the bat knew not to judge on first appearances.

Tails walked them over to where he laid, and let out a shaky sigh. "When I called you he wasn't breathing, but he is now… And he seems to be stable, but I can't wake him up."

Shadow moved to the other side, peering down at the softly breathing hedgehog. He seemed fine, though if Tails couldn't wake him up, that meant he was in a coma. His ears swiveled back a bit, but he remained silent as Rouge told him too.

The room was silent, though Omega was the first to speak after a couple of minutes. **"His vitals are stable, he is just sleeping."**

Rouge looked over her shoulder to the robot, then back to Tails, his fur all disheveled and unkept. She pulled him to her hip and started to gently straighten out his fur. While on the job Rouge was ruthless, cold blooded at times even. But she was by no means heartless, she was rather the opposite when it came to someone needing her.

Shadow grabbed a stool and pulled it up next to the table, sitting down on it and leaning forward, his forearms resting on his thighs. He frowned, Sonic was in a coma. Out of curiosity, he shifted and gently pulled down the bandages on his arm, only to see nothing. He raised a brow and started to carefully unwrap it, ear twitching when he heard Tails choke out a sob.

His arm was fine. The hedgehog looked up to Tails and Rouge, the young fox had buried his face in her ribcage and Rouge was still straightening his fur up. He frowned again and moved the stool to the other side, doing the same with Sonic's other arm and showing it to Rouge, who shrugged.

"Tails, why were Sonic's arms wrapped?" Rouge inquired, there was blood on the gauze, but his arms were just fine.

The fox flinched a bit before looking up, about to talk but stopped when he saw that his arms weren't popped or bloody as they had been before. He pulled away from Rouge and moved to the table, looking at his arms in shock.

He could regenerate! Sonic could regenerate! His eyes lit up at this and put away the facemask. No one questioned him, as they had realized what this implied as well. Tails was sure now, Sonic would be fine. That was why he had started to breathe, and now his arms… Sonic would be awake and ready in no time!

Rouge let out a relieved sigh, "well that was a bit more of an exciting night than I had expected. I imagine he will be up and moving tomorrow."

Tails nodded, and fiddled with his gloves, "Sorry for dragging you guys here… I didn't know who else to call. Knuckles is on Angel Island, and Amy… Well…" The fox trailed off, rubbing the back of his head.

Rouge chuckled, knowing full well why he couldn't call the eccentric pink lady. "That's alright, we understand."

Shadow huffed in agreement, and swiveled himself to face the hedgehog, brows scrunched together. So Sonic may be able to regenerate? While the hedgehog was relieved, he was also concerned. Being immortal had a lot of drawbacks that no one ever really thought about, unless you were immortal yourself of course.

He hoped for Sonic's case that he wasn't, especially knowing how much he valued his friends.

* * *

**_Hey everyone! Amber as usual, here to bring you your friday update! Thanks for all the love, I'm glad you all are getting into the story!_**

**_Stay tuned!_**


	5. Trippy Grass

This was trippy, this was very trippy. Why was the sky green anyway? He had never seen or even heard of such an absurd thing! The hedgehog was silent for a while, then sat up and looked around.

Surrounding him was a field of some sort, the grass was a purplish color, to match the oddity of the green sky. At least Sonic presumed that was the sky, he wasn't sure of anything at the moment.

He ran his gloved hand over the purple plant matter, definitely grass. Sonic stood and sniffed around, it smelled just like the mystic ruins, but obviously it was nothing like the forest. He rested his hands on his hips, ears swiveling around to try and catch some sound of civilization, but it was completely silent.

Nothing alive was anywhere near him! He frowned, not even a rat or anything like that. The field was completely empty. Now _that_ was weird.

Might as well look for some sort of signs of life. So the fastest thing alive sped down the field, the air was moist, so he knew he was somewhere tropic. This was confirmed when the purple grass soon gave way to tan sand, Sonic of course shifted his direction so he could run along beside the water, which had an unsettling red color to it.

This place was crazy. He wanted to get back to green grass and blue water, stat.

It quickly became apparent that wherever he was there was no living things for miles. The sand became purple grass once more as his running continued, still no signs of life. He kept his eyes and ears peeled though, searching for at least something.

There was a flash of black out of the corner of his eye, causing the hedgehog to immediately dig his heels in the grass, kicking up dirt as he did. He spun around, and saw a figure a couple feet away from him.

They stood about his height, obviously mobian. And with a quick look up and down, apparently female. She was a white color with a black scarf and hood. Her eyes were closed, cheeks pushed up into a smile. Her feet were clad in some little yellow shoes, to match the yellow star right under her chin.

The mobian didn't move, and only smiled pleasantly at Sonic, though it was enough to unnerve him quite a bit. Smiling girls in cute attire always meant death in every horror movie, and those babies never lead him astray yet.

"Uh… Hi there!"

"Hi there!" She replied, her voice scratchy, sounding as if it was her first time speaking.

The hedgehog frowned a bit, and walked a bit closer, not sensing any impending danger from the strange mobian. In fact, aside from being creepy, the girl appeared to be relatively friendly.

"Soo… What is your name?"

"Zehra, and you are Sonic." She replied quickly, making Sonic flinch a bit. And she knew his name, great. Even in purple grassed lands he was famous.

"Yes, yes I am." He rubbed the back of his head, looking around the area silently. "Alright then, Zehra, may I ask for some directions out of this place. I'd like to head on home."

The mobioan stared at him blankly (eyes still closed) for a minute before smiling and nodding. The ends of her scarf sprung to life, the cloth at the ends forming hands, wrapping around the blue hedgehog. He gave a cry and immediately wiggled out of them, attacking the living hands.

Zehra hissed and jumped back, rubbing the cloth hands with her real ones, scowling at the blue mobian. "What was that for?!"

"For grabbing me! I don't feel like getting killed today thank you."

"You can't die here idiot." She snapped back, showing a bit more of her true colors. "And I wouldn't have killed you anyway. I was going to bring you back to where you came in."

Sonic was about to retort, but he stopped, relaxing a bit and looking at her quizzically. "I can't die here?"

"Well ok... You _can_, but I don't have the ability to kill you." She released the scarf hands and they floated idly next to her head, "now I can take you back to where you came in if you want. I was wondering when you'd wake up."

"Uh, sure. How long have I been here?"

"Couple hours," a black hand pointed to a rip in the sky, which had not been visible from directly below it. "You fell in there, so I waited next to you for a while, but then I got bored."

"A couple hours! Tails must be worried sick!" The hedgehog sped back down the path he took there, running along the beach at top speed to come to the field he had been in before. He looked up, a frown forming on his face when he saw he couldn't see the rip anymore.

After a couple minutes, the new mobian managed to catch up, panting as he floated next to him, resting her hands on her knees.

"Phew. Ok, so there are two ways to go back. One is for me to lift you out of this dimension, and into yours. Then the other is you will naturally return to that world when your body is regenerated."

"... Explain?"

The white mobian rolled her eyes, "This is a pocket dimension. This is a place of rejuvenation… I can't say I have ever gotten a mobian here before though, so lucky you."

"Aren't you a mobian though?" He pointed out, crossing his arms and wiggling his finger at her.

She blinked and looked down at her body, before up at him, "Looks like it. My body changes to match the species of who travels here. So, I am a mobain."

The hedgehog opened his mouth to say something else, but felt an unusual sensation wash over him. He looked at his hands, they were starting to fizz out of existence! He looked up at the woman in alarm, but she remained seemingly calm.

"Your body is ready for you to come back, I'll probably see you again soon. I'll try and explain more then, have fun!" She pipped waving a black hand at him as he felt his body fizz away into nothingness.

...

Sonic shot up, gasping for breath. His eyes wide, shooting around the dark room. He panted for a minute or so before he squinted, and was able to make out the shapes of various machine parts, as well as Tails, what seemed to be Rouge, and Omega too!

He frowned, and was about to get up, but felt his hand brush against something, he looked down and saw Shadow, leaning against the table, his head resting on his hands. His eyes were open, and the red irises glowed ever so slightly in the dark.

"You are awake?" The black hedgehog inquired quietly, as not to wake up anyone.

"Yeah, I had the craziest dream ever though."

...

**Hi there once more! Hope you are liking the story so far, see you again next friday!**

**EDIT: Fixed the format, I have no idea why it was so wonky. Sorry about that!**


	6. Toddler Food Fight

"And, her scarf thing seemed to be a part of her too!" The blue hedgehog exclaimed to the raven one, causing the other to roll his eyes.

"Perhaps laying off of the chilly dogs would be wise."

Sonic scoffed and jumped to his feet, overlooking the Mystic Ruins from Tails's roof, "chilly dogs are my life!"

Shadow made a blatant glance to his rounded stomach and then up to the hedgehog's face, "I can tell."

"Ass."

He sat back down and let his legs hang over the side, his hand reaching up to touch his quills. The hand ran through them until he felt the fizzing sensation, then pulled it away. Ever since he had woken up, the ends of his quills were all glitchy, like a crappy hologram or something. It didn't hurt, or really bother him, it was just weird.

None the less, he figured since it didn't hurt, it wasn't a problem.

They were silent for a while after that, Sonic stared over the ocean that the workshop overlooked, and Shadow watched the equally blue hedgehog. While Sonic didn't seem to care about his quills, Shadow did. It was unnatural. While he was not the one to be calling something unnatural, he just had a gut feeling that this was something bad.

Perhaps, though, he was wrong. Sonic was in perfect health and seemed as chipper as usual. So maybe the quills were just a side effect…

The black hedgehog snapped to attention when he realized Sonic was looking back at him, a quizzical expression on his face. Shadow blushed and immediately looked over the ocean. Scolding himself mentally, Shadow could not believe he was just staring at Sonic.

"Hey! I know, lets have a race! That always puts me in better spirits!" Sonic suddenly exclaimed, seeming to sense Shadow's discomfort. "Come on, it'll be fun."

Shadow smirked and slid off of the roof, landing on the ground with a soft thud. "Fine. To the old temple and back?"

Sonic slid off as well and gave a hearty nod, grinning at the black hedgehog. He crouched down to a running position, Shadow doing the same, and started to count down. "Ok, three… two… one… go!"

The pair took off, speeding off in a blink of an eye. But something was different, Sonic could not believe his eyes. He was faster. So much faster. Instead of his trial being blue as usual, it was now a blue green, the green probably being from the emerald that Tails had used!

He grinned and lowered his head, speeding along the tracks and down the ladder which led to the old Aztec temple. Before he knew it he was there! But the hedgehog didn't stop there, he spun around and ran back.

Shadow…? Shadow was only at the ladder! Sonic looked over his shoulder as he sped back to the workshop, skidding to a halt in the airplane runway.

He looked down at his hands, green eyes wide. Normally he and Shadow were neck and neck, how did he get so much faster than him? The emerald transfer really must have worked then! His ears swiveled a bit when he heard Shadow return, panting.

"The energy transfer worked." He stated dumbly, looking up at Shadow, who seemed both upset and surprised. Sonic figured he just hated to lose.

"I wonder what else I can do now!" Sonic pipped, balling up his fists and hopping a bit in place. It was time to find out. "Lets find out!"

"_Lets_ not." Shadow snapped back, a scowl on his face. Without another word he spun on his heel and marched back into the workshop, leaving Sonic alone and very confused.

. . .

"You know Tails, if you ever get bored of being a mechanic… You should totally take up some culinary job or something." Rouge said as she reached for another bowl of stew that Tails had made himself.

"Since Shadow is terrified of the oven, and Omega is not allowed anywhere near it, I don't get any home cooked meals anymore. This is such a treat!"

Tails laughed softly and rubbed the back of his head, looking down at his lap. Usually he only cooked for himself, since a kid can only grow so much on chilly dogs. The fox was pretty sure that was the only thing Sonic knew how to cook.

The lot of them were sitting at a table, various different chairs pulled up from around his workshop to the table to try and create some sort of home setting feel. It didn't work well, but no one complained.

Sonic and Shadow were at the end, seemingly in a fight of some sort as they were glaring daggers at each other across the table. Sonic stabbed a piece of potato and shoved it in his mouth, before 'accidentally' coughing it up into Shadow's bowl. The black hedgehog gasped, and then proceeded to take the bowl and break it on Sonic's head. Sonic growled and threw a fork at him, which Shadow easily dodged.

At this point, Rouge decided the two were acting like children. "Okay, okay! Kids, settle down will you? Or, if you two have to beat the shit out of each other, do it outside."

Her ears flattened when she saw the two were sizing each other up, a sign that they were about to fight, and immediately had Omega push them outside so they wouldn't trash poor Tails's workshop.

Once the toddlers were outside, Omega shut the door and gave a grumbling wirr as he took his seat back next to Rouge. Tails couldn't help but laugh a little, "They'll never change, will they?"

"Probably not." Rouge responded with a smile, then suddenly frowned. She was silent for a couple moments, then looked up at Tails with some concern.

"Was it me, or were Sonic's quills shorter?"

. . .

**Hello my pretties, as usual here is your update! **

**Also, sorry for the lateness! I usually try to post it around noon, but I was just so busy. Anyway, I hope you like the chapter!**


	7. Cheater, Cheater, Pumpkin Eater

"Sooonic, come on, you just ate!" Tails exclaimed, watching as the hedgehog warfed down another chilly dog, this being his twelfth in the span of two hours. "Seriously, I know you like eating and all, but this is ridiculous."

"Can't help it Tails! I'm starving." He replied before giving the fox small wave and heading out the door. Sonic wasn't sure why he was so hungry, it was pretty weird. Though he didn't think much of it, afterall, food was delicious!

Above him Shadow was standing on Tails's roof. It was midday now, and he and his team hadn't left Tail's workshop since they got there. The black hedgehog was getting a bit antsy. By now usually he was on a mission, going to go kill someone who fucked up. Perhaps a rescue or escort mission even. Just _something_.

He looked down when he noticed Sonic had left the workshop. Shadow remained quiet as Sonic looked around, then eventually spotted him.

"Hey! Shad, want to have another race? I'll go easy on yah!" He called out, waving up at him with a cocky grin.

Shadow growled and jumped down, shoving Sonic aside. He began to stretch silently to show he was down for another race. Sonic snickered and did the same, then crouched down to a ready position.

"Ready, set…. Go!"

The two took off, but this time Sonic noticed Shadow was keeping up with no problem! He was using a chaos emerald! The blue hedgehog scowled and ran against him, using his shoulder to bump Shadow's. "What gives man!? No cheating!"

"This isn't cheating." He replied sourly, then held up the chaos emerald, "_This_ is cheating… Chaos Control!"

Beside him, he could feel Shadow fizz away, probably to the temple. Sonic could not believe this! Shadow never cheated before, what was his problem!? He wished he had a chaos emerald! If he did, oh man, that Shadow would be sorry!

He scowled and concentrated on trying to make himself go faster, but suddenly he felt a familiar tingling sensation before a wall suddenly appeared in front of him. The hedgehog let out a cry and slammed into it, before sliding down to the ground.

"The hell? Who are you to talk about cheating when you used a chaos emerald too!"

Sonic groaned in response, and peeled his face out of the wall, looking around him in a slight daze. He was at the temple? That is odd, he was just at the ladder before… Wait a sec.

"D-did I teleport here?"

"Of course you did." Shadow replied with a scoff, what else would he think have happened? He used chaos control! Was he expecting daisies or something? Regardless, he grabbed Sonic's arm and pulled him to his feet, "Hypocrite."

Sonic growled and yanked his arm away, giving Shadow a glare. "I am not a hypocrite! I don't have an emerald!" He snapped, ears flattening against his head. Silence filled the air as they both came to terms with what he had said. _Sonic could teleport without emeralds_.

Not only did Tails's experiment make him faster, it gave him the ability to teleport without an emerald! What else did it do!? Sonic looked up at Shadow who was just as shocked as him, eyes wide as he stared at him.

Shadow's brows scrunched together, seemingly upset about something. Quickly his expression turned into one of anger and he shoved Sonic aside and ran off, leaving the blue hedgehog at the temple to try and figure out what his problem was.

He frowned, Shadow had been acting strange lately. Had he done something to offend him? Sonic usually was not one to care about these sorts of things, figuring haters will be haters. In his experience with Shad though, he was never like this.

Sonic shook his head and closed his eyes, acting like he would if he had a chaos emerald, and tried to teleport to Tails's workshop.

Once more when his eyes opened he found himself in the workshop, Rouge painting her nails while Tails tinkered with Omega. Rouge looked up when he came in, raising an eyebrow.

"I can teleport without emeralds." He blurted out, making the room go dead silent.

Tails jumped up, beaming with joy. "It worked! My machine worked!" He threw his hands up and bounced around Sonic, before embracing his older brother, "I can't believe it! This is amazing! Oh, the things I could do! Could you imagine it Sonic!?"

Sonic laughed and gave Tails a nuggie, while Rouge just rolled her eyes and went back to her nails. Shadow was not going to be happy about that.

…

Later that night, Tails was working with his machine. While his experiment seemed to work, what Rouge had said still haunted him. Today his quills were even shorter! But he couldn't bring this to Sonic's attention, fearing stress could make it worse.

He grabbed some papers off of a printer, and sat on his chair, reading through them. Something had to have went wrong, what was happening to sonic? He sighed, nothing was showing up on the machine. Perhaps he could find something in some data archives?

Deciding that was the best bet, he spun his chair around and tapped open a floating screen, looking through what he could find about what Sonic's quills were doing. He eyes stopped when they noticed something called 'Chaos Corrosion'. Tails gulped and opened up the file, reading through it.

Mobians who did not posses chaos tendencies could not have an emerald in their possession for an extended period of time, if they did the emerald would start eating away at them because the host was not strong enough to contain it's power, thus was eating the host in a chance to escape. This often led to death, and was why originally an emerald guardian was put in place.

Tails blinked, before resting his face in his hands, what has he done!? Sonic's body may have chaos tendencies, but it can't contain the power of the emerald itself! Thats why he is hungry all the time, and why his quills are like that! But… How can he reverse it? The damage has been done.

No, Tails sat up and ran to his machine. He was not going to give up that easily. He was going to save Sonic, no matter the cost.

* * *

**Have another update!**


	8. Time

"Steady… Steady… There! See, you just need to concentrate." Zehra beamed, and pulled her black hands away from him.

There Sonic was, levitating by expelling pent up energy in his body. It actually felt great, like stretching or something. "Can I move?"

"You tell me, I ain't yo' body."

The blue hedgehog slowly leaned to the left, in correspondence with that, his body slowly moved left. The more he leaned, the faster he went in that direction. Within a couple minutes the hedgehog had it down, he could fly! He started flying around the sky, leaving a pixilated trail as he did.

The mobain below smiled, excited that Sonic discovered another use for his new abilities, "Remember, everything you can do here, you can do in your world too!"

Sonic was having too much fun to respond, but he already knew. After all, for the past couple of nights he learned that every time he went to sleep, he was brought into this dimension. It was perfect time for him to practice his new powers. Teleporting was now a breeze, and he could fly too!

He carefully aimed down and slowly flew to the ground, landing on the purple grass softly.

"I'd say I mastered flight, what's next?"

"Hum… Lets see, you did teleportation, flight… oh! Now for combat, lets start off with a simple chaos spear." She said, looking up from the little list she had been using to help Sonic control his powers.

"Hey, Shadow can do that!"

"He is the black and red one, right? Emo?"

Sonic snorted a laugh, "Yeah, that's him!"

...

Sonic was starting to get a bit concerned. Tails had not left his lab for a few days. Rouge, Omega and Shadow left on call for a hit mission. The blue blur frowned upon it, but didn't stop them since he knew it would probably just get him yelled at. After all, he supposed they actually needed money since they didn't freeload like he did.

He knew Tails was hiding something from him, and it was frustrating as all get out. Tails never hid things from him, so he knew it had to be something regarding his new abilities. It had to be bad. But what? He felt fine, aside from eating a ton, he didn't really feel any different. If anything he felt better than ever, especially with Zehra helping him out with his powers. This was great! He was great!

Still, the whole hermiting in his lab thing was starting to get out of hand. Maybe Sonic could talk to him, but first he wanted to call Rouge. The whole situation with Shadow had been bugging him as well. If anyone knew what was bugging Shadow, it would be Rouge. Though they were on their mission now, so he guessed he couldn't really call her.

Look at him, thinking of calling someone! He was practically turning into a woman! He slid off of the workshop roof and started running, in no particular direction. Just for fun. He really needed to get his mind of things for a while, take a break. Maybe take a nap and visit Zehra, practice his chaos spear or something.

The wind through his quills, the grass under his feet, the smell of the forest, slowly it was seeping into his stressed mind and easing him into his usual happy lull. Sonic ran through the ruins in the jungle, over a mountain or two, through fields. By the time the sun had set, Sonic wasn't really sure how far away from the workshop he was. But he knew his stomach was killing him. He needed food. Now.

Luckily he seemed to have made his way into a city, so he quickly hit up a hot-dog stand, cleared him out and stuffed his face. Sonic didn't bother to look at the people who were watching him, knowing he probably looked like a pig. But he was just too hungry to care. Never had hot-dogs tasted so good. It didn't take him long, when he finished he decided he should head back. If Tails finished with his business and he wasn't there… The poor kid would probably have a heart attack.

Sonic stretched before heading off back in the direction he came.

...

Amy grabbed herself a stool, sitting down with her head in her hands. She had walked into Tails's lab when he was on the phone with someone, talking about Sonic. Sonic was dying. Of course, Tails did not find out she was there until the damage had been done.

"The effects should be reversible… I just… I just need to find out how." He said, grey bags having already formed well under his eyes. He hadn't slept properly in three days.

"How could you have done something like this!?" She exclaimed, tears already making their way down her face. How could Tails, how could he!? Sonic was like his brother, how did he think it would be a good idea to turn Sonic into a chaos emerald! It was stupid, and obviously dangerous! He should have tested it first! She thought he knew better than that.

The fox's ears flattened, eyes shifting down to his feet. "I… I didn't mean to… Sonic just wanted to try it so bad… I… I thought it would have been ok."

"Well you thought wrong! Tails you have to reverse this! Sonic can't die, the world needs him, I need him..."

"I-I'll cure him! I promise! I won't let him die." Tails replied firmly, and walked over to the sobbing pink hedgehog, handing her a hospital trey (he had gotten a couple from a nearby clinic that didn't need them anymore) with some tea on it. "H-here."

Amy grabbed the tea and drank it, "Sonic is degenerating… does he even know?"

"I dont think so… He seems fine actually. But I don't know if he is bluffing, or really can't feel it."

Sonic's ears twitched, he was dying? He had just arrived back at the workshop and stopped at the closed door, his head pressed up against it to hear Tails and Amy talking.

"I hope he isn't in any pain… I wouldn't want his f-final moments to be i-in…" The pink mobian got choked up with a sob and couldn't finish her sentence. Tails already knew what she meant.

"It won't come to that, I'm making progress. I-I just need time."

"Well you don't have time Tails! Sonic could drop dead any day!" She snapped, before biting her glove and sighing. "I'm sorry Tails, I just… The thought of loosing my Sonic is just… It's unbearable."

Sonic could not believe his ears. Granted it explained a ton, but he couldn't believe it. He.. He was going to die. No, that is impossible! He was immortal now, Zehra told him. There was no way this could be true… But everything added up.

"It is to me too Amy," Tails whispered, hanging his head, "...It is to me too."

* * *

**Hello everyone! Once again, here is your friday update!**

**As we near the middle of our story here, it is time to start planning my next story! What do you guys want to see from me? Comment telling me if you think that I should make plans for a sequel, or if you want to see a specific pairing in the future.**

**Or just comment because you are a great person, that works too!**


	9. They Grow Up So Fast

Sonic backed away from the door, taking care not to make a sound. He felt no pain, no discomfort… Yet the chaos emerald energy inside of him was killing him? Eating him from the inside out? Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly and then stormed in, acting as if he had not heard a thing.

"Hey Ams! What's up?" He exclaimed, a grin on his face as usual. The pink girl quickly wiped her eyes and smiled, jumping up and flying over to her hero. Sonic just grinned and bore it, Amy meant well, he knew that. Even if he did not return her feelings, he could be considerate when he wants to be.

"Okay, okay. No more huggy, what are you doing here?" He asked, prying her off of his chest.

Amy straightened her dress, "Oh! Tails was just telling me how much of a success his experiment was, wonderful!" She exclaimed, shooting a sharp look at Tails as she did so. "Hey, I promised Cream that I would have some tea with her, so I have to get going. Bye Sonic!" She exclaimed, before dashing out the door.

Sonic watched her, before shrugging his shoulders and sitting on one of the stools pulled up to the table. "Girls, crazy right?"

"Y-yeah."

At that moment there was a flash of light, and Rouge, Shadow and Omega stood at the entrance of the workshop. Rouge stretched, brushing off some dried blood from her glove. "Fuck Shadow, you could have been a little less violent."

Shadow grumbled, glared at Sonic, then left the building. There was a small thunk above them, hinting that Shadow was probably laying on the roof.

The white bat rolled her eyes and then took up seating at one of the stools around the table. "Shadow is not taking this lightly, I am never going to unsee that." She mumbled, shaking her head as she crossed her legs.

"About that… What is wrong with him?" Sonic inquired, shifting a bit to face her.

"Shadow? Oh, he has a messed up god - complex. He can't stand it when those he loves are stronger than him because it means he can't protect them." Rouge replied offhandedly, slipping off her gloves and laying them on the table.

Her eyes moved to Sonic with a coy smile, "He loves you a lot you know."

Sonic's ears flipped back as he blushed a bit, but didn't lose eye contact with her, "so he is angry because he can't protect me?"

"Basically, yeah." She tapped her chin, "Think of it like if you had a sister or something that you had to protect, but she suddenly gained an amazing power to protect herself. She wouldn't need you, so you would be useless. Shadow doesn't like being useless, it makes him mad. So that's why he is throwing his little temper tantrum. It kind of stems from Maria, with him not being able to protect her from GUN."

The blue blur was silent for a while, not realizing why Shadow had been so bent on being 'the ultimate'. He had always thought it was because he liked having bragging rights, not because he wanted to protect those he loved.

He loves him? Sonic blinked, unsure how to react to that idea. Sure, maybe it wasn't romantic, but he thought Shadow just tolerated him. His eyes went to Rouge, who while preoccupied with her nails, had a faint smirk on her lips. "Maybe you should talk to him, it could do you both good."

Sonic nodded and stood. He made his way to the door and opened it, softly shutting it behind him. He jumped onto the roof and awkwardly made his way to the far side where Shadow was laying. Sonic never really dealt in the way of emotions, so he just plopped down next to the black hedgehog and was silent for a while.

"Rouge explained some stuff to me."

"I heard."

"Look… Just because I'm stronger now, doesn't mean you are useless! I mean, you are the _ultimate lifeform_ after all. I got the speed, you got the power." Sonic said, poking the side of Shadow's head, causing him to sit up.

"That doesn't mean much now and days."

"Well what about those inhibitor rings? You can probably run circles around me without those on."

"Yes, and maybe fry you with chaos energy."

Sonic opened his mouth, about to mention that he was already sort of being eaten alive by it now, but he snapped his mouth shut. He didn't want Shadow to worry, plus he wasn't even supposed to know that. "It still counts," he jided, a small smile on his face.

With a roll of his eyes, Shadow couldn't help but smile a bit. "I hear roasted hedgehog is a tasty treat."

"Aw, dude! That's gross!" He exclaimed, and gave him a swift punch to the shoulder. Sonic couldn't help but laugh though, it seemed that Shadow was out of his mood.

...

Off on a nearby Cliff, Rouge and Omega sat watching the two. With their little conversation, it was easy to get out of the workshop unnoticed. The white bat leaned back in Omega's hand, shaking her head.

"They grow up so fast, don't they Omega?"

"**My sensors indicate they are fully grown."**

Rouge rolled her eyes, a faint smile on her face.

* * *

**Hey there! Have another update my pretties! Enjoy the bit of fluff thrown in there, things get serious next week!**


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